Féile na nGael Round 1
Na Piarsaigh 2-03
Ballinora (Cork) 0-05
A slow enough first half on the scoreboard but we had some excellent passages of play that were unlucky to drift wide. We led at the break 2 points to 1 with Charlie Ryan getting one from play and Ross O’Flanagan landing a free. The second half sprung into life straight from the throw-in with a brilliantly finished goal by Paddy McCaul. The ball was delivered in by Ronan Gleeson for Paddy to whip low to the net.
George Stack was adding great calm at half back, coming out with an amount of ball through the 20 minutes, while Dan O’Donavan was doing trojan work at half forward. Our second goal came following a maizing run by Joe Daly through the middle. He offloaded to Harry O’Sullivan who forced an excellent save from the Ballinora goalie but Joe was quick off the mark and finished off the rebound. We were well in the driving seat now. Charlie chipped in with his second of the day shortly after. Ballinora registered a couple more frees to bring the gap back to 4 points before the ref blew for full time. A great start for Na Piarsaigh.
Team: Noah Jordan, Liam Sheehan, Cian Moore, Harry Kehoe, Sean Ryan, George Bourke, George Stack, Ronan Gleeson, Ross O'Flanagan(0-01, 0-01f), Joe Daly(1-00), Charlie Ryan(0-02), Dan O'Donovan, Paddy McCaul(1-00), Harry O'Sullivan, Aaron Ward.
Subs: Conal O’Brien, Adam Butler, George Conway, Toby Conlon and Cathal O’Doherty.
Féile na nGael Round 2
Na Piarsaigh 2-09
St. Anne's (Wexford) 0-04
St. Anne’s of Wexford were our opponents in round 2. The home team started strongly getting a point straight from the throw-in. Our lads took a few minutes before they got into their stride with Ronan Gleeson and Charlie Ryan each getting a point from play. Harry O’Sullivan added our third before Joe Daly buried his second goal of the day. As in the first game, our backs were providing the solid base for our forwards to deliver up front. George Bourke was a rock at the heart of our defense with Cian Moore batting everything out from full back. Noah Jordan was hitting darts with his puckouts, finding green jerseys(we wore Limerick jerseys for this one as ourselves and St. Anne’s both wear sky blue) all through the game. The score stood at 1-05 to 3 points at half time in favour of na Piarsaigh.
We landed 4 points in a row at the start of the second half through Joe Daly, Charlie, Harry, and a boomer from Ronan Gleeson in midfield. This all before Aaron ward rifled a shot to the net that all but sealed the result. 2 wins from 2, qualified from the group with a game to spare. Na Piarsaigh had arrived in Wexford and we were here to play.
Team: Noah Jordan, Liam Sheehan, Cian Moore, Michael O'Connor, Sean Ryan, George Bourke, George Stack, Ronan Gleeson(0-02), Ross O'Flanagan(0-01, 0-01f), Joe Daly(1-01), Charlie Ryan(0-03), Dan O'Donovan, Leon Moynihan, Harry O'Sullivan(0-02, 0-01f), Aaron Ward(1-00).
Subs: Paddy McCaul, Harry Kehoe, Cathal O’Doherty, Evan Gardiner, Odhran Roche, Toby Conlon, Evan Waters.
Féile na nGael Round 3
Na Piarsaigh 3-07
Ballyhogue (Wexford) 1-03
Round 3 pitted us against Ballyhogue, the second team hailing from Wexford in our group. They defeated St. Anne’s in round 1 and narrowly lost out to Ballinora in round 2. They raced into a 2-point lead inside the opening minutes before we could gather our bearings. But boy did we gather them with Joe Daly almost bursting the net with his third goal of the competition. It all stemmed from an outstanding save from Toby Conlon to deny the Wexford outfit at one end. Michael O’Connor cleared away the rebound for Cian Moore to drive it down the field. Charlie fielded the ball nicely before offloading to Joe. He made no mistake with the finish. He would add 2 more points along with one from Charlie before the break. We led 1-03 to 2-points and half time.
Ballyhogue started the second half strongly with a well taken goal but responded well with a point from the stick of Ross O’Flanagan. Ross had to be content with converting frees up to this point but he made no mistake with this one from open play. The settler came after our opponents converted a free to bring them back within 2. Toby hit a long puck-out that evaded the Ballyhogue half back line. Joe Daly picked it up at full tilt around the 65 with a clear path toward goal in front of him. He found Adam Butler with a floated pass on the 21, for Adam to cut inside and stick it in the net. Harry O’Sullivan got our third 3-pointer only moments later to settle the tie. Cathal O’Doherty slotted a neat point in injury time to put the icing on the result. 3 wins from 3 for sky blues. A great morning and afternoon for Na Piarsaigh.
Team: Toby Conlon, Evan Gardiner, Cian Moore, Michael O'Connor, Sean Ryan, George Bourke, George Stack, Dan O'Donovan, Ross O'Flanagan(0-01), Harry O'Sullivan(1-01), Charlie Ryan(0-02), Evan Waters, Odhran Roche, Joe Daly(1-02), Aaron Ward.
Subs: Evan Waters, Noah Jordan, Cathal O'Doherty(0-01), Conal O'Brien, Adam Butler(1-00), George Conway & Leon Moynihan.
Féile na nGael Quarter Final
Na Piarsaigh 1-03
Michael Cusack's (Galway) 1-09
Michael Cusack’s of Galway were our quarter final opposition, finishing second in their group. We were well in the game at half time, playing into a strong breeze in the opening 10. Joe Daly buried his 4th goal of the day with Charlie Ryan and Harry O’Sullivan also registering points. The scores were level at half time, 1-02 to 5-points. We started the second half well with Dan O’Donovan slotting over from 30 yards. Unfortunately this was to be our only score of the second period with Michael Cusack’s going on to dominate the scoreboard for the remainder of the game. Our lads looked to be out on their feet having spent an enormous amount of energy in the group phase. Our opposition also got a slight rub of the green from the referee, who would be no stranger to Limerick fans, him having reffed the extra time in the Munster final. Michael Cusack’s would run out 6-point winners.
While our lads will be disappointed to lose out at the quarter final of the Féile na nGael, there can be no doubt about their incredible achievement to get this far. Winning Limerick alone will always be looked back on as a great day for the players, their families and Na Piarsaigh. Going unbeaten in the group stage of the national competition must also go down as treasured memory for these players. The group certainly did the Na Piarsaigh jersey proud and will undoubtedly go on to do great things for Na Piarsaigh in the years to come.
Great credit must go to the management team of Rob O’Sullivan, James Ryan, Brendan O’Flanagan, Brian Kehoe and Conor Boylan for their outstanding work in preparing the group over the past few months for both the Limerick and national competition. Special mention also to Maeve Howlett as medic and Martin Waters and Finbar Ryan for carrying out umpire duties on the day.
We're coming again. Na Piarsaigh Abú!!!
Team: Noah Jordan, Liam Sheehan, Cian Moore, Michael O'Connor, Sean Ryan, George Bourke, George Stack, Ronan Gleeson, Ross O'Flanagan, Dan O'Donovan(0-01), Charlie Ryan(0-01), Joe Daly(1-00), Paddy McCaul, Harry O'Sullivan(0-01, 0-01f), Aaron Ward.
Subs: Adam Butler, Evan Waters, Toby Conlon and Conal O’Brien.
